


Party Tricks

by startrekkingaroundasgard



Series: Festive Ficlets 2019 [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Acrobatics, Christmas Party, Drunken Shenanigans, Drunkenness, F/M, Ficmas, Minor Bucky Barnes/Clint Barton, Spiked eggnog, Tumblr Prompt, if you absolutely squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 13:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21732313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrekkingaroundasgard/pseuds/startrekkingaroundasgard
Summary: At the Christmas party, Clint gets tipsy and he and Natasha put on a show for the guests.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov
Series: Festive Ficlets 2019 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559245
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Party Tricks

“Barton just told me he loves me.”

Natasha barely raised an eyebrow at Bucky’s statement. “So?”

The soft cushions dipped as Bucky perched on the edge of the sofa, half empty glass of vodka in his hand. He didn’t drink often - he wasn’t able to get drunk enough to forget so rarely bothered - but it was the Christmas party and was humouring whichever B-list wannabe had brought their own homebrew. Judging by how his nose wrinkled when he took another sip, Natasha was fairly certain that he wouldn’t be going back for another glass. 

Concern, underlined by a healthy amount of respect, was written across his face. Bucky studied Natasha, a feat they both knew was pointless as they’d been trained by the same people to hide all emotion, then proceeded carefully. “So, he’s your husband and I thought you might want to know that, while on the rare occasion he’s not being an ass I do sometimes find him attractive, I’ll never get in the way of your marriage.”

While she appreciated the clarification, it wasn’t exactly high on the list of her worries. Faith in anything was hard to come by for Natasha but if there was one person who she believed entirely in then it was her husband. Anyway, as surprised as Bucky may have been by Clint’s admission, it wasn’t news to her. 

“Bucky,” she said gently, resting her hand over his. “You’ve not been to many of these parties but ask anyone who has; they’ll all confirm it. When Clint gets drunk, he has a tendency to profess his feelings to everyone. He starts with his friends and moves on to strangers and then eventually proclaims undying love to the coffee maker or shiny decorations on the christmas tree.”

His eyes briefly flashed with disappointment but Bucky quickly covered it. Natasha, soft in her own slightly inebriated state, didn’t want to see her friend sad so squeezed his hand comfortingly and said, “Despite what he says or does, you’re one of my husband’s closest friends. Just because he gives out his love indiscriminately does not mean it isn’t real. He cares for you. We both do.”

A soft blush crept up Bucky’s neck and he was quick to cough away his discomfort over being read so easily. Changing topic, he asked, “How did he get drunk, anyway? I thought he’d sworn off alcohol after last time.”

Natasha smiled at the memory. The “last time” to which Bucky was referring had been a particularly amusing night out on the town the week before last. The three of them, along with Sam, Steve and Wanda, had gone out to a bar after a long mission and gotten absolutely shitfaced. The night had started with Clint doing topless karaoke and ended with a trip to A&E after a punch up with a vicious alley cat who had been most displeased at Clint throwing up over its kittens. 

“I don’t know for certain but I think someone spiked the eggnog.” That someone was Tony and Natasha was, in fact, completely certain he was to blame. However, until her darling husband was throwing up behind the Christmas tree or arguing with an inanimate object, she saw no reason to take action. After all, he seemed to be having so much fun. 

Across the room, Clint was doing as he so often did when tipsy: showing off his circus skills. It started with juggling, which sounded innocent enough until the knives or flaming Molotov cocktails came out. Thankfully, from what Natasha could see, Clint was playing it easy tonight with a few empty beer bottles. 

People clapped and cheered as he jumped up on the table, preparing for the next trick. His unfocused gaze scanned the room before settling on Natasha. A wide grin spread across his face, his focus sharpening - proof he wasn’t as drunk as everyone around them thought - as he waved her over. “My gorgeous wife, lady-men and gentle-ies.”

“That’s my cue.” Natasha handed her glass to Bucky and wove through the crowd. She reached up to take Clint’s hand and snaked her arm around his waist once up beside him on the table. It wasn’t quite as balanced underfoot as she’d hoped but as she shifted her weight around she decided that it was stable enough. 

Without a word of discussion, Natasha took a step back to make room for Clint. He winked, and she cursed her heart for skipping a beat even after all these years, then bent back, lowering himself into a backwards crab. Once he was stable, Natasha did the same, balancing her hands on his thighs, before pushing herself up into a sort of handstand - grateful that she’d had the good sense to wear trousers tonight and not a dress. 

Rolling backwards, she landed with her feet either side of his head then stood straight, accepting the deafening applause while Clint rose to join her. What followed was a series of seemingly impossible acrobatics and a near inhuman show of flexibility. It was the most fun either had had for weeks. They dared each other into progressively more dangerous moves until their audience got distracted by Thor’s party trick: striking stuff (people included) with lightning. 

“I love you,” Clint murmured, pressing a kiss to Natasha’s cheek. The pair found a spare seat and cuddled up together, happily oblivious to the rest of the party. “You’re amazing.”

“I know. So are you.” Natasha trailed her fingers through Clint’s hair. He’d let it grow out a bit recently as she loved to play with it. From the way her husband practically purred as she tugged on the with the messy strands, she knew he loved when she played with it too. “Keep making sounds like that,” she warned, “and we’re going to have a problem.”

Clint smirked, nuzzling up even closer against his wife. His lips brushed her neck as he spoke, sending shivers down her spine. “Is that so? And how, exactly, would we resolve that problem? Acrobatics of a different kind, perhaps?”

Natasha burst out laughing. “You are ridiculous.”

“Is that a yes?” he asked hopefully. 

She didn’t grace him with an answer. Instead, Natasha simply took his hand and led him out of the room, grateful that no-one would hear them over the noise of the party.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! Happy holidays!


End file.
